DorsiD
"Facebook Is a Great Place To Find Family and Friends"
A Lunch Community
Join | Log In
Rating:
Global phenomenon? Yes. A scourge of every day life? Absolutely. Here's why you should follow my example and pull the plug on Zuckerberg's narcissistic ego-porn site.
+2
So today I took the leap and unfriended myself from Facebook, which is ironic considering that I spend a major part of my time helping clients buy social media advertising - it's like being the drug dealer who won't touch the stuff. And it does strangely feel like I've disconnected myself and entered a social networking wilderness, but actually it's a step that I think more people should consider.
1. Zero privacy
Apart from Facebook's own checkered history with privacy, the truth is that you're providing endless amounts of personal detail for very little reason -- just take a look at Facebook Advertising to see how this works. While they do have privacy controls, Facebook just doesn't work as intended if you use them: it's like going to a cocktail party with duct tape over your mouth and a bag over your head. And with the proliferation of Like, Share and Connect buttons everywhere, there's never been a better time to create a permanent public record of your surfing habits.
2. Look at me! LOOK AT ME!
My opinion of certain friends has been on the downward slope as they've basically spammed my news feed with utter crap. 400 pictures of flowers in Thailand. 300 pictures of hugging strangers while getting drunk. A photo of the entree I ordered last night. It's so unbelievably pointless but more importantly it's annoying. It appears that some of the people I know have dangerously narcissistic tendencies (which is ok now since it's technically not a psychological disorder anymore).
3. One Platform To Rule Them All
I'm all Open Source-y and have a major suspicion of any technology that attempts to implant itself as part of the core Internet eco-system. If email only ever had one provider, like AOL, we'd still be using dial-up - it's healthy that there were thousands of competing email systems, yet the system worked just fine - and evolved quickly too.
Facebook aims to be a required part of your Internet experience, which is counter to way it should work. There need to be a range of competing systems that interrelate with the effectiveness of email. Although there are other Facebook-type sites, these are clones and you have to choose one to use rather than any.
4. Shallow relationships
In many ways, sites like Lunch.com do a much better job than Facebook. It takes hard work to write reviews, read others' reviews, and develop opinions. It doesn't take hard work to take a picture of my cat. I often feel I have a better insight into the personalities of the many excellent Lunchers here than people I've known for years who post inane Twitter-length comments about having a cold.
It also has a chilling effect (I love that phrase) on seeing people who haven't physically met in a long time, since you casually know what's been going on in their lives through Facebook. It's a shallow replacement for the real thing.
5. Goldman Sachs is here
The world's favorite vampire squid is now involved, which surely must be a sign to move on. One of the big proponents of Internet Bubble stocks a decade ago, the investment banks are readying themselves for Round Two of the great Web "Pump & Dump". We're talking trillions of dollars again for a company that doesn't actually produce anything, so I'd rather not be part of the calamity when it gets IPO'd to death and then crashes and burns. If that seems unlikely now, it also seemed unlikely last time too.
In shutting down my Facebook account, I'm putting the social back into social media - visiting friends for dinner, seeing family in the flesh, and spending time talking to people. I don't need virtual gifts, Mafia Wars or 50 updates an hour on my Droid to be part of my network. And while I think there are many websites that help develop friendships and your knowledge of things you like - and it's one of the great benefits of the web - Facebook isn't one of them.
I hope you like this review by sharing it on Facebook. :-)
What did you think of this review?
Helpful
36
Thought-Provoking
35
Fun to Read
36
Well-Organized
33
More Facebook reviews
Is there anyone who is still not on Facebook by now? Yes! Many of my personal friends. Having said that, they are possibly the minority rather than the majority in the world now. So, I'll keep this short and simple. My take on Facebook. I had an account on it for many years but I hardly logged in. The main reason being I don't really know a great many who are on it and I was residing in China for the last 4 years, I was logged out of it. It's banned! … more
Comments (17)
Compliments (53)
When I first created my Facebook profile, I did so in order to communicate with a few people who I met on the old (and seemingly ancient) Yahoo 360 social network. I had become quite good virtual friends with them and didn't want to lose touch with them whenever 360 shut down. I believed that those few select people (six friends total), would be my entire world on Facebook. Soon enough, however, I started getting friend requests from people I hadn't seen since high school … more
Comments (2)
Compliments (70)
This review is about Facebook as a stock rather than a social media site. It's about business! Facebook had its IPO listed on Nasdaq last friday (May 18) making Mark Zuckerberg a $20 billion man! He rang in the bell for Nasdaq opening & his own wedding the next day (May 19). That makes Mark Zuckerberg not just the richest 28 year old on the planet but also the luckiest guy in the world!!! So much about Mark Zuckerberg. … more
Comments (2)
Compliments (4)
review by rochelle.
April 04, 2009
I held out on getting a Facebook, despite being invited, until I was in college. I loved the layout and the ability to connect with people at my college. There were groups set up so I could meet people in my dorm, and major before I even got to college. I liked the exclusivity of it, I felt that it really separated itself from other networking sites since it was just for college students. Then it was opened up to everyone. I cringed when highschoolers were now friend requesting … more
Comments (2)
Compliments (28)
Social Networking has, for the most part, become a part of our everyday lives. It's still in its infancy, though. For most of us sites like Friendster and Myspace got us started in Social Networking, while other sites such as Amazon have adapted to becomeing more social networking like in a time that it's a big thing. Yet when it comes to social networking no website stands out more than Facebook. This is for several reasons. Facebook has become a social networking … more
Comments (12)
Compliments (186)
review by Alfonso_Mangione.
November 08, 2009
I realized very shortly after setting up my facebook account that I’d gotten myself into deep trouble. It was September, a little over a year ago. I found my thoughts racing, and usually heading straight back to my friend list. I obsessed over my profile even when I was doing other things; I remember going running by the lake and wondering almost the whole while which Elliott Smith quote defined me as a person. I learned to love chatting with three people at a time—when I’d see … more
Comments (3)
Compliments (115)
Ouch!!! 40% LOSS for investors in its first 10 days of trading on the NASDAQ! More if you bought at the height of around $45 on its listing day!!! I wrote a review of it (I know a bubble when I see one!) on the weekend after its listing looking for a price range of $25-28! It recorded a low of $26.83 yesterday (May 31) before a technical rebound at the close! So, what's next?!
Comment
Compliment
It began trading on Nasdaq around $43 last friday. Today, in just a market day, over the weekend after Mark's wedding, it's trading at around $33!!! Lucky Mark who sold it at $38 with the help of Morgan Stanley! Not so lucky for the investors (retail or institutional) even if they are buying for the long term!!! They could have gotten it for $33 today or even less later! PE of over 100?! Forget it!!! Are you sure you're that good a friend with Mark? ;-) … more
Comment
Compliment
I'm on Facebook and I hate myself for it. The only reason I joined was because invitations from friends to events kept flying over my head, and when they asked where I was, they would always tell me it was on Facebook. Herein is the big problem I have with the site: People consider it all they need. Basic human decency and intimate, detailed conversation is being eschewed. But on the upside, I've made very useful connections with online friends and it allows me to keep up with the goings-on in Chicago, … more
Comments (3)
Compliments (10)
review by amanfdk.
February 28, 2010
The first time i visited facebook it seemed too complex(as i came from orkut). As i decided mind to explore it give it a try once i just couldnt belive the experience was so good. It was lot better than any other social service i have very used. Very customizable i.e i was able to block all what i didnt want me disturb and there was still a lot to do. First addiction of mine started with the popular game called mafia wars and then in a day or two … more
Comments (2)
Compliments (38)
About the reviewer
James Beswick (jbeswick)
Lunch.com's "token Brit".
Consider the Source
Use Trust Points to see how much you can rely on this review.
You
jbeswick
Your ratings:
About this website
Facebook is a social networking website launched on February 4, 2004. The free-access website is privately owned and operated by Facebook, Inc. Users can join networks organized by city, workplace, school, and region to connect and interact with other people. People can also add friends and send them messages, and update their personal profile to notify friends about themselves. The website's name refers to the paper facebooks depicting members of a campus community that some US colleges and preparatory schools give to incoming students, faculty, and staff as a way to get to know other people on campus.
view wiki
First to Review
- About Lunch
- Press
- FAQs
- Contact Us
- Terms of Service
- Privacy Policy
- Sitemap
- Report Abuse
© 2013 Lunch.com, LLC All Rights Reserved
Lunch.com - Relevant reviews by real people.
I use it to promote events when I'm DJing and other friend's events to help them get the word out or news about Lunch or great reviews on here, like this one LOL or share important news that people would care about! I definitely agree that we need to focus on our offline relationships and when it's the weekend, I rarely check in to it- I'm out living life, not talking about it.
My other point of negativity on Facebook has to do with Facebook drama. People tend to read too much into others' statuses and take it personally. It's infantile and ridiculous but, it happens all the time. Pick up the phone and ask someone what their deal is instead of posting cryptic status messages on Facebook.